August 25
August 25 is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 128 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 357 – Battle of Strasbourg: Julian, Caesar (deputy emperor) and supreme commander of the Roman army in Gaul, wins an important victory against the Alemanni at Strasbourg (Argentoratum).
- 1248 – The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht.
- 1258 – Regent George Mouzalon and his brothers are killed during a coup headed by the aristocratic faction under, paving the way for its leader, Michael VIII Palaiologos, to ultimately usurp the throne of the Empire of Nicaea.
- 1537 – The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed.
- 1580 – Battle of Alcântara. Spain defeats Portugal.
- 1609 – Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
- 1758 – Seven Years' War: Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Russian army at the Battle of Zorndorf.
- 1768 – James Cook begins his first voyage.
- 1825 – Uruguay declares its independence from Brazil.
- 1830 – The Belgian Revolution begins.
- 1835 – The New York Sun perpetrates the Great Moon Hoax.
- 1875 – Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours.
- 1894 – Kitasato Shibasaburō discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
- 1898 – 700 Greek civilians, 17 British guards and the British Consul of Crete are killed by a Turkish mob in Heraklion, Greece.
- 1912 – The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.
- 1914 – World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven is deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts are lost.
- 1916 – The United States National Park Service is created.
- 1920 – Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, which began on August 13, ends. The Red Army is defeated.
- 1921 – The first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain occur.
- 1933 – The Diexi earthquake strikes Mao County, Sichuan, China and kills 9,000 people.
- 1939 – The United Kingdom and Poland form a military alliance in which the UK promises to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.
- 1942 – World War II: Battle of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.
- 1942 – World War II: second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. A Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned-back by an Allied air attack, losing one destroyer and one transport sunk, and one light cruiser heavily damaged.
- 1944 – World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
- 1945 – Ten days after World War II ends with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Communist Party of China kill Baptist missionary John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.
- 1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
- 1950 – President Harry Truman orders the US Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.
- 1961 – President Jânio Quadros of Brazil resigns after just seven months in power.
- 1980 – Zimbabwe joins the United Nations.
- 1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn
- 1989 – Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
- 1989 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System.
- 1989 – Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.
- 1991 – The Airbus A340 aircraft makes it's first flight.
- 1991 – Belarus gains its independence from the Soviet Union
- 1991 – The Battle of Vukovar begins. An 87-day siege of a Croatian city by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces, between August–November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence
- 1991 – Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux.
- 1997 – Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, is convicted of a shoot-to-kill policy at the Berlin Wall.
- 2003 – The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko).
Births
- 1530 – Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (d. 1584)
- 1561 – Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer (d. 1632)
- 1620 – István Gyöngyösi, Hungarian poet (d. 1704)
- 1624 – François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France (d. 1709)
- 1662 – John Leverett the Younger, American educator (d. 1724)
- 1707 – King Louis I of Spain, (d. 1724)
- 1719 – Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (d. 1795)
- 1724 – George Stubbs, British painter (d. 1806)
- 1741 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian (d. 1792)
- 1744 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (d. 1803)
- 1767 – Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French revolutionary and writer (d. 1794)
- 1776 – Thomas Bladen Capel Royal Navy Admiral (d. 1853)
- 1786 – King Ludwig I of Bavaria (d. 1868)
- 1796 – James Lick, American land baron (d. 1876)
- 1802 – Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian poet (d. 1850)
- 1803 – Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, the Duque de Caxias, Brazilian military leader (d. 1880)
- 1817 – Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, Founder of the Religious of the Assumption (d. 1898)
- 1829 – Carlo Acton, Italian composer and concert pianist (d. 1909)
- 1836 – Bret Harte, American writer (d. 1902)
- 1841 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss medical researcher; Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- 1845 – King Ludwig II of Bavaria (d. 1886)
- 1867 – James W. Gerard, American jurist and diplomat (d. 1951)
- 1868 – Nikolaos Levidis, Greek shooter (d. unknown)
- 1882 – Seán T. O'Kelly, Irish politician (d. 1966)
- 1891 – David Shimoni, Russian-born Israeli poet and writer (d. 1956)
- 1893 – Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher (d. 1962)
- 1898 – Helmut Hasse, German mathematician (d. 1975)
- 1898 – Arthur Wood, England cricketer (d. 1973)
- 1900 – Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist; Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
- 1902 – Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (d. 1972)
- 1903 – Arpad Elo, American chess writer (d. 1992)
- 1905 – Saint Faustina, Polish mystic (d. 1938)
- 1906 – Jim Smith, England cricketer (d. 1979)
- 1909 – Michael Rennie, English actor (d. 1971)
- 1910 – George Cisar, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1910 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter
- 1911 – Vo Nguyen Giap (Võ Nguyên Giáp), Vietnamese general and statesman
- 1912 – Erich Honecker, East German politician (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Don DeFore, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1913 – Walt Kelly, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
- 1915 – Walter Trampler, American violist (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Van Johnson, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist; Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
- 1916 – Saburo Sakai, Japanese aviator (d. 2000)
- 1917 – Mel Ferrer, Cuban-American actor, film director and film producer (d. 2008)
- 1917 – Lisbeth Movin, Danish actress
- 1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer (d. 1990)
- 1918 – Richard Greene, English actor (d. 1985)
- 1919 – George Wallace, American politician (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Monty Hall, Canadian-born game show host
- 1921 – Bryce Mackasey, Canadian politician (d. 1999)
- 1924 – Zsuzsa Körmöczy, Hungarian tennis player (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Brian Moore, Irish-born writer (d. 1999)
- 1925 – Thea Astley, Australian writer, (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Althea Gibson, American tennis player (d. 2003)
- 1928 – John "Kayo" Dottley, American football player
- 1928 – Darrell Johnson, American baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1928 – Herbert Kroemer, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 – Bruce Allpress, New Zealand actor
- 1930 – Sir Thomas Sean Connery, Scottish actor
- 1930 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (d. 2003)
- 1931 – Hal Fishman, Los Angeles based local news anchor. (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Regis Philbin, American television host
- 1933 – Patrick McManus, American outdoor humor writer
- 1933 – Wayne Shorter, American jazz musician (Miles Davis, Weather Report)
- 1933 – Tom Skerritt, American actor
- 1933 – István Gaál, Hungarian film director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Lise Bacon, French Canadian politician
- 1934 – Eddie Ilarde, Filipino disk jockey, television host, and Senator
- 1935 – Charles Wright, American poet
- 1936 – Giridharilal Kedia, Indian entrepreneur (d. 2009)
- 1938 – David Canary, American actor
- 1938 – Frederick Forsyth, English author
- 1939 – John Badham, American film director
- 1940 – José Van Dam, Belgian baritone
- 1941 – Marshall Brickman, American film writer
- 1942 – Nathan Deal, American politician, 82nd governor of Georgia
- 1944 – Conrad Black, newspaper magnate
- 1944 – Jacques Demers, Canadian hockey coach
- 1944 – Anthony Heald, American actor
- 1946 – Rollie Fingers, American baseball player
- 1946 – Charles Ghigna (Father Goose), American poet and children's author
- 1946 – Charlie Sanders, American football player
- 1948 – Nicholas A. Peppas, Greek chemical and biomedical engineer
- 1949 – Martin Amis, English novelist
- 1949 – Fariborz Lachini, Canadian-Iranian composer
- 1949 – John Savage, American actor
- 1949 – Gene Simmons, Israeli-born musician (Kiss)
- 1950 – Charles Fambrough, American jazz musician
- 1951 – Rob Halford, English singer (Judas Priest)
- 1951 – Bill Handel, American radio personality
- 1952 – Geoff Downes, English keyboardist (The Buggles, Yes, Asia)
- 1952 – Duleep Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1954 – Elvis Costello, English musician
- 1955 – Gerd Müller, German politician
- 1955 – Vijayakanth, Tamil actor and politician
- 1956 – Takeshi Okada, Japanese football manager
- 1956 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally driver (d. 1986)
- 1957 – Sikander Bakht, Pakistani cricketer
- 1957 – Simon McBurney, British actor, writer and theatre director
- 1958 – Tim Burton, American film director
- 1958 – Sterling Harwood, American academic
- 1958 – Christian LeBlanc, American actor
- 1959 – Ruth Ann Swenson, American operatic soprano
- 1960 – Ashley Crow, American actress
- 1960 – Georg Zellhofer, Austrian footballer
- 1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer and actor
- 1962 – Māris Bružiks, Latvian triple jumper
- 1962 – Vivian Campbell, Irish musician (Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Dio)
- 1962 – Shahid Mahboob, Pakistani cricketer
- 1962 – David Packer, American actor
- 1963 – Christine McGlade, Canadian actress (You Can't Do That on Television)
- 1963 – Shock G, American singer and rapper (Digital Underground)
- 1964 – Maxim Kontsevich, Russian mathematician
- 1964 – Vasilios Kotronias, Greek chess grandmaster
- 1964 – Marti Noxon, American television writer and producer
- 1964 – Dan Parent, American comic book artist and writer
- 1964 – Blair Underwood, American actor
- 1964 – Joanne Whalley, British actress
- 1965 – Cornelius Bennett, American football player
- 1965 – Sanjeev Sharma, Indian cricketer
- 1965 – Mia Zapata, American singer (The Gits) (d. 1993)
- 1966 – Albert Belle, American baseball player
- 1966 – Robert Maschio, American actor
- 1966 – Derek Sherinian, American keyboardist
- 1967 – Tom Hollander, English actor
- 1967 – Jeff Tweedy, American singer (Wilco)
- 1968 – Rafet El Roman, Turkish singer and composer
- 1968 – Yuri Mitsui, Japanese actress, model and racing driver
- 1968 – Stuart Murdoch, Scottish musician (Belle & Sebastian)
- 1968 – Spider One, American musician (Powerman 5000)
- 1968 – Rachael Ray, American chef and television personality
- 1968 – Takeshi Ueda, Japanese singer and composer
- 1969 – Cameron Mathison, Canadian actor
- 1969 – Vivek Razdan, Indian cricketer
- 1969 – Rachel Shelley, English actress
- 1969 – Steve Staley, American voice actor
- 1969 – John Witt, author, sportswriter, actor and Ballhawk
- 1970 – Doug Glanville, American baseball player
- 1970 – Robert Horry, American basketball player
- 1970 – Jo Dee Messina, American country music singer
- 1970 – Claudia Schiffer, German model
- 1971 – Mike Lockwood, professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- 1972 – Marvin Harrison, American football player
- 1973 – Fatih Akın, German film director
- 1974 – Dave Luza, Dutch comedian
- 1974 – Eric Millegan, American actor
- 1974 – Pablo Ozuna, Dominican baseball player
- 1975 – Petria Thomas, Australian swimmer
- 1976 – Jensen Atwood, American actor
- 1976 – Damon Jones, American basketball player
- 1976 – Javed Qadeer, Pakistani cricketer
- 1976 – Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish actor
- 1977 – Sophie Cadieux, Canadian actress
- 1977 – Diego Corrales, American boxer (d. 2007)
- 1977 – Andy McDonald, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Jonathan Togo, American actor
- 1978 – Kel Mitchell, American actor
- 1978 – Robert Mohr, German rugby player
- 1979 – Marlon Harewood, English footballer
- 1979 – Deanna Nolan, American basketball player
- 1980 – Neal Musser, American baseball player
- 1981 – Rachel Bilson, American actress
- 1981 – Jan-Berrie Burger, Namibian cricketer
- 1981 – Clare Oliver, Australian cancer activist (d. 2007)
- 1983 – James Rossiter, British racing driver
- 1987 – Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Blake Lively, American actress
- 1987 – Amy Macdonald, Scottish singer and songwriter
- 1987 – Logan Morrison, American baseball player
- 1987 – Whitney Stevens, Panamanian/American pornographic actress
- 1987 – Justin Upton, American baseball player
- 1987 – James Wesolowski, Australian footballer
- 1987 – Liu Yifei, Chinese actress and singer
- 1988 – Alexandra Burke, English singer
- 1988 – Angela Park, Brazilian/American golfer
- 1988 – Ray Quinn, English singer
- 1992 – Miyabi Natsuyaki, Japanese singer
- 1998 – China Anne McClain, American actress
Deaths
- 79 – Pliny the Elder, Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher and military commander (b. 23)
- 383 – Gratian, Roman Emperor (b. 359)
- 471 – Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 458)
- 1192 – Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1142)
- 1227 – Genghis Khan, Khagan of Mongol Empire (b. 1162)
- 1270 – Louis IX of France (b. 1214)
- 1282 – Thomas Cantilupe, English saint (b. c. 1218)
- 1330 – Sir James Douglas, Scottish soldier (b. 1286)
- 1482 – Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI of England (b. 1429)
- 1554 – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, English politician (b. 1473)
- 1632 – Thomas Dekker, English dramatist (b. c. 1572)
- 1650 – Richard Crashaw, English poet (b. c. 1613)
- 1688 – Henry Morgan, Welsh privateer (b. c. 1635)
- 1699 – Christian V of Denmark (b. 1646)
- 1711 – Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, English politician
- 1742 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (b. 1704)
- 1774 – Niccolò Jommelli, Italian composer (b. 1714)
- 1776 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (b. 1711)
- 1792 – Jacques Cazotte, French writer (b. 1719)
- 1794 – Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-born Austrian diplomat (b. 1727)
- 1819 – James Watt, Scottish inventor (b. 1736)
- 1822 – William Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1738)
- 1867 – Michael Faraday, English scientist (b. 1791)
- 1886 – Zinovios Valvis, Greek politician and Prime Minister (b. 1791)
- 1900 – Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (b. 1844)
- 1900 – Kuroda Kiyotaka, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1840)
- 1904 – Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (b. 1836)
- 1904 – William Hall, Canadian Royal Naval sailor (b. 1827)
- 1908 – Henri Becquerel, French physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1852)
- 1924 – Mariano Álvarez, Filipino general (b. 1818)
- 1925 – Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b. 1852)
- 1930 – Frankie Campbell, American Boxer (b. 1904)
- 1938 – Aleksandr Kuprin, Russian writer (b. 1870)
- 1939 – Babe Siebert, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1904)
- 1940 – Jean d'Orleans, duc de Guise, Orleanist pretender to the French throne (b. 1874)
- 1942 – George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (b. 1902)
- 1945 – John Birch, American intelligence officer and missionary (b. 1918)
- 1950 – Earl Caddock, professional wrestler (b. 1888)
- 1956 – Alfred Kinsey, American research biologist (b. 1894)
- 1965 – Moonlight Graham, American baseball player (b. 1879)
- 1967 – Stanley Bruce, eighth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1883)
- 1967 – Paul Muni, Polish actor (b. 1895)
- 1967 – George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party leader (b. 1918)
- 1968 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (b. 1910)
- 1970 – Tachū Naitō, Japanese architect (b. 1886)
- 1971 – Ted Lewis, American musician and entertainer (b. 1890)
- 1973 – Dezső Pattantyús-Ábrahám, Hungarian politician (b. 1875)
- 1976 – Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Károly Kós, Hungarian writer, architect, ethnologist and politician (b. 1883)
- 1979 – Stan Kenton, American musician and bandleader (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Gower Champion, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1919)
- 1981 – Nassos Kedrakas, Greek actor (b. 1915)
- 1984 – Truman Capote, American author (b. 1924)
- 1984 – Waite Hoyt, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- 1984 – Viktor Chukarin, Soviet gymnast (b. 1921)
- 1985 – Samantha Smith, American social activist (b. 1972)
- 1990 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (b. 1903)
- 1995 – Doug Stegmeyer, American bassist (b.1951)
- 1997 – Camilla Spira, German actress (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Rob Fisher, English musician (b. 1956)
- 2000 – Carl Barks, American cartoonist (b. 1901)
- 2000 – Jack Nitzsche, American record producer (b. 1937)
- 2001 – Aaliyah, American R&B singer and actress (b. 1979)
- 2001 – Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1938)
- 2001 – Philippe Léotard, French actor and singer (b. 1940)
- 2001 – Ken Tyrrell, British race driver and F1 team principal (b. 1924)
- 2002 – Giannis Gionakis, Greek actor (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Peter Glotz, German politician (b. 1939)
- 2006 – Noor Mohamed Hassanali, 2nd president of Trinidad & Tobago (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Ray Jones, English footballer (b. 1988)
- 2008 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (b. 1964)
- 2008 – Pavle Kozjek, Slovenian mountaineer (b. 1959)
- 2009 – Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, United States Senator from Massachusetts (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances
External links